Friday’s campaign round-up

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that won’t necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:

* In Kentucky, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) isn’t just taking heat from the right; he’s also being pressured from the left. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee launched this ad in Louisville this week on Social Security.

* In an important setback for Republican Senate recruiting, Rep. Dave Camp (R) announced this morning he will not run for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat in 2014. The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee will instead seek re-election.

* On a related note, National Journal ran a report yesterday, before Camp’s intentions were clear, that said Michigan Republicans are “poised to botch” this Senate pick-up opportunity.

* In Virginia, Planned Parenthood is launching a direct-mail campaign, criticizing Republican gubernatorial hopeful Ken Cuccinelli as “extremely dangerous for women.” The piece explains that that far-right state Attorney General “would end access to safe and legal abortion, even in cases of rape or incest.”

* In New Jersey, Democratic leaders at the national level are eager to shine a spotlight on Republican Senate hopeful Steve Lonegan, whom Dems see as an embarrassing setback for the RNC’s “rebranding” efforts.

* And the on-again, off-again feud between New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is apparently back on again. Yesterday, in an apparent shot at the Kentucky senator, Christie told Republican National Committee members, “We are not a debating society. We are a political operation that needs to win.” A top Paul advisor responded, “So if I translate Gov. Christie correctly, we shouldn’t be the party of ideas. We shouldn’t care what we stand for or even if we stand for anything. We reject that idea. Content-free so-called ‘pragmatism’ is the problem, not the solution.”